Kidnap Suspect In Trouble For Years / Now the focus of 4 other disappearances

Elizabeth Bell, Stacy Finz, Chronicle Staff Writers

Published 4:00 am, Thursday, August 17, 2000

2000-08-17 04:00:00 PDT VALLEJO -- Curtis Dean Anderson, the man accused of kidnapping an 8-year-old Vallejo girl, came from a broken family, was in and out of trouble from an early age and was drinking a half gallon of liquor daily by the time he was in his teens, according to court records.

Anderson, 39, is being held in the Solano County Jail on charges that he snatched Midsi Sanchez as she walked home from school and chained her to the inside of his car. Two days later, Midsi managed to unlock her shackles and escaped from her captor's tan Oldsmobile Firenza on Saturday.

Authorities are looking at Anderson in connection with the disappearance of at least four other girls -- 7-year-old Xiana Fairchild, also of Vallejo, Amanda Nikki Campbell, 4, of Fairfield, Michaela Garecht, 9, of Hayward, and Karla Rodriguez, 7, of Las Vegas. Investigators said they have not found a substantial link so far but are continuing to investigate.

"It appears that he traveled quite extensively in the United States," said Vallejo Police Lt. JoAnn West, who is asking for the public's help in developing a chronology that would establish Anderson's whereabouts starting from the time he was released from prison in May 1999.

West said detectives know that Anderson has ties to Nevada and they can place him in several states as far away as the Midwest. She would not discuss which states but did say the FBI is trying to determine whether any children in those areas have dropped out of sight during the times of Anderson's visits.

It seems that no matter where Anderson traveled he always returned to his home town -- Vallejo. Born April 19, 1961, he was the third of Howard and Corrine Anderson's four children. Life in the Anderson home was not easy, according to a presentencing report filed in Solano County Superior Court in 1987. These reports are used by judges to guide them in determining a sentence. Their value comes from the fact that they are minibiographies of defendants.

The report paints a picture of a gradually but inexorably crumbling family, riddled with alcoholism and abuse. Anderson told his probation officer that by the time he entered his teens, his father was drinking heavily and was beating him and his mother.

The situation got so bad that Howard and Corrine Anderson divorced when their son was 16 or 17 years old.

But Curtis Anderson had already adopted his father's ways, according to the report, drinking a half gallon of vodka or gin every day from the time he was 15 until he was 17 years old. Anderson quit cold turkey for three years but then had a relapse, he told the officer.

Dropping out of the ninth grade, Anderson had already gained a reputation for being a troublemaker. He was shooting guns, burglarizing homes and stealing motorcycles, according to the report. In 1976, he was made a ward of the court and placed on formal probation with an order to serve five weekends in Solano County Juvenile Hall.

Later, Anderson added armed robbery and kidnapping to his long list of offenses. The kidnapping count was later dismissed, but Anderson was ordered to serve 90 days at the California Youth Authority for the robbery.

By Oct. 6, 1978, charges of loitering, obstructing an officer, resisting arrest and possession of marijuana were added to his constantly growing juvenile rap sheet.

In 1981, Anderson married a Vallejo woman and they had a son. But the relationship was rocky and the couple divorced three years later. They shared custody of their only child. A year after the divorce, Anderson moved in with a woman who lived in Clearlake and they had a baby together. But their relationship dissolved quickly.

With a 1983 grand theft conviction and a 1986 conviction for receiving stolen property, Anderson was well along the classic path of a career criminal.

In and out of jail and prison, Anderson's employment record was spotty. He worked at a construction job for a time, was at one point employed by a moving company and did a little welding.

Then in 1991, Anderson forced an acquaintance's wife to drive him to Oregon at gunpoint. Like Midsi, the woman managed to break away at a rest stop and flagged down a truck driver who rescued her.

Anderson was sent to San Quentin Prison in 1992 for false imprisonment and was released in May 1999.

Not much is known about what Anderson did over the summer, but by August 10, he was back in Vallejo. According to police, Anderson drove to Vallejo from San Jose that day. That afternoon, police say, Midsi crossed his path. He allegedly held her prisoner in his car for two days, repeatedly abusing the little girl.

It is an episode she is unlikely to forget, experts say.

Anna Weisberg, a psychologist who works with abused children at A Step Forward in Concord, said that such an experience stays with a child for life but that with good counseling and a lot of love Midsi could emerge a stronger person.

Midsi's father, Carlos Sanchez, said his entire family will seek counseling through a state victims' fund. The Sanchez family is not asking her many questions, he said, but is trying to give her love and support.

"I think it's doing a lot of good to be around and be together," said her father. "She's going to get everything she needs. She's going to be safe for the rest of her life."

As for the constant flow of reporters visiting their house every day, Sanchez said his daughter has become accustomed to being in the spotlight.

"She's starting to like the attention," he said. "Even right now she is going out on her own to have her picture taken. We're letting her do whatever she feels comfortable with."

Sanchez said the FBI and police have asked them to keep Midsi from talking about specifics of her ordeal so as not to hurt their case. He and his wife are taking time off from work so they can spend time with their daughter.

"We're trying to do whatever we can to make her feel safe," he said. "If the television is on and his (Anderson's) picture comes on we shut off the TV. We don't want her to see him and I don't want to see him either."